During Communications Week in Austin, the inaugural Zenith Awards — created and presented by Ragan Communications — crowned more than a hundred winners across campaigns, teams and individual practitioners, with BODYARMOR Sports Nutrition’s POWERADE “It Takes More” March Madness campaign taking Campaign of the Year and dozens of agency, corporate and government programs recognized for creative impact, measurement and social benefit.
Ragan’s Zenith Awards were launched this year as a single, broad program to celebrate excellence across internal and external communications, PR, marketing and what Ragan calls “mixternal” comms — the mix of marketing and internal communications that companies now run as integrated programs. The awards were presented during Communications Week, a multi-day industry gathering that positioned the Zenith awards as the week’s capstone gala and recognition platform. Ragan framed the program as a response to the growing scope of the communications function and the need for a unified, high-profile industry prize. Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications, captured the program’s intent at the gala, saying the Zenith Awards were meant to spotlight teams that had “shined brightest” during a difficult year for communicators — a line that appeared in coverage of the gala and in Ragan’s own launch materials. The awards’ launch, jury composition and category design were publicized in advance by Ragan, which emphasized rigorous judging criteria centered on strategy, creativity, execution and measurable impact.
The winners list — as published by PR Daily and amplified on Ragan’s winners pages — gives readers a comprehensive map of the projects that earned the judges’ favor this year. These materials are useful both as inspiration and as starting points for due diligence.
For professionals in IT and communications, the Zenith winners list is best treated as a curated menu: use it to discover cases worth studying, then subject the most compelling entries to the verification checklist outlined above. That approach turns recognition into durable learning and ensures that award-winning work can be reliably replicated, scaled and trusted. <!-- Note: Full winners list and case profiles are available on PR Daily’s coverage and Ragan’s Zenith winners pages. The article above synthesizes those published materials and adds industry context and verification guidance. -->
Source: PR Daily Full list of winners: The inaugural Zenith Awards - PR Daily
Background
Ragan’s Zenith Awards were launched this year as a single, broad program to celebrate excellence across internal and external communications, PR, marketing and what Ragan calls “mixternal” comms — the mix of marketing and internal communications that companies now run as integrated programs. The awards were presented during Communications Week, a multi-day industry gathering that positioned the Zenith awards as the week’s capstone gala and recognition platform. Ragan framed the program as a response to the growing scope of the communications function and the need for a unified, high-profile industry prize. Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications, captured the program’s intent at the gala, saying the Zenith Awards were meant to spotlight teams that had “shined brightest” during a difficult year for communicators — a line that appeared in coverage of the gala and in Ragan’s own launch materials. The awards’ launch, jury composition and category design were publicized in advance by Ragan, which emphasized rigorous judging criteria centered on strategy, creativity, execution and measurable impact. Overview of winners and categories
The Zenith Awards span more than 60 campaign categories and multiple team- and individual-based honors. PR Daily published a full winners list immediately after the gala; the list reads like a cross-section of modern communications work — from crisis response and public affairs to AI-driven social pilots and employee engagement programs — and highlights winners from both agency and in-house teams. Among the headline winners:- Campaign of the Year: BODYARMOR Sports Nutrition — POWERADE “It Takes More” March Madness.
- AI — Use of: Deloitte — GenAI Social Leadership Pilot.
- Crisis Communications: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office — Crisis Communications During the Newsome High School Lockout.
- Employee Communications / Intranet: Deloitte Services LP — Deloitte Today.
- Video / Visual Storytelling: Novartis — Four Corners Video Series.
Why the Zenith Awards matter
A new, consolidated awards platform for comms
The Zenith Awards arrive at a moment when the communications discipline is consolidating influence inside organizations. Ragan has positioned the program as a single, visible prize that spans internal comms, PR, marketing and social — an approach that acknowledges the way audiences and channels now overlap. The awards’ breadth creates a competitive stage where integrated programs can be judged side-by-side with single-channel executions, reinforcing the trend toward unified comms strategies.Visibility and commercial signaling
Winning a Zenith Award brings editorial and social exposure via Ragan and PR Daily channels, plus a formal winners badge and press materials for use in corporate comms. For agencies and in-house teams, that halo can translate into recruitment leverage, easier stakeholder buy-in for future campaigns, and co-marketing opportunities. Ragan explicitly advertises editorial, social and marketing benefits for winners, which is standard for industry awards but significant in its scale when run by a trade publisher with Communications Week’s reach.A measure of industry priorities
The award winners and finalists reveal what judges prioritized in the inaugural year: measurable impact, creative storytelling, integrated digital execution and the use of AI where it supports strategic outcomes. The inclusion of categories such as AI — Use of, Employee Engagement, Crisis Communications and Measurement & Evaluation signals that the profession’s mainstream is focused on practical outcomes rather than novelty alone.Deep dive: Campaign of the Year — POWERADE “It Takes More”
BODYARMOR’s POWERADE “It Takes More” March Madness execution was recognized as Campaign of the Year, a nod to the campaign’s cross-platform storytelling and commercial impact. The campaign — produced in partnership with BODYARMOR’s brand team and agencies — used a music-driven anthem approach, athlete ambassadors, and widescale distribution across TV, CTV, social and experiential spots to build engagement during the NCAA tournament window. Judges cited creative execution and audience resonance as key strengths. Independent industry coverage confirms the campaign’s visibility: trade outlets documented the creative elements and media rollouts, and the campaign has been noted in awards coverage elsewhere for its cultural reach and high engagement metrics. That external recognition helps corroborate the Zenith judges’ read: POWERADE’s March Madness campaign is both creatively ambitious and effectively executed. Key takeaways from the Campaign of the Year:- The campaign prioritized authentic athlete storytelling and music-driven creative to create emotional resonance.
- Omni-channel distribution (TV, CTV, social, OOH) was central to audience scale.
- The campaign demonstrates how sports sponsorship and content can be engineered to drive measurable audience engagement and brand salience during marquee sporting events.
Deep dive: Crisis communications — Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
Public-sector winners are often the most instructive when it comes to functional communications skills; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office won for crisis communications related to a school lockout. The award highlights several practical lessons that are applicable to any operational comms team:- Speed and clarity: The case emphasized timely public updates even in information-poor situations — a strategy that reduces rumor and helps families and stakeholders make decisions.
- Audience sensitivity: The team tailored messages to affected families and local media while maintaining public safety priorities.
Deep dive: AI and communications — Deloitte’s GenAI Social Leadership Pilot
Deloitte’s win in the AI — Use of category for the GenAI Social Leadership Pilot illustrates how consultancies and corporate comms leaders are experimenting with generative AI to scale content and leadership programs. Ragan’s categories and PR Daily’s winners list show that judges rewarded projects where AI was applied to solve a clear communications problem — not tools-first experiments. Why this matters:- AI is now moving from lab experiments to operational pilots that support content workflows and executive presence. Effective pilots show governance, explainability and measurable outcomes.
- Judges rewarded measured application — entries that reported results, metrics or demonstrable audience impact ranked higher than mere proofs-of-concept.
What journalists and communications leaders should look for in award entries
Industry awards are valuable signals, but they should be assessed carefully. The Zenith Awards, like any curated recognition program, rely on submitted materials and judged summaries. For reporters, procurement teams and leaders interpreting award outcomes, the following checklist converts accolade into actionable insight:- Request the entry materials: ask for the campaign brief, KPIs, timelines and the judge submission. These documents show what judges actually saw.
- Verify metrics: obtain dashboards or measurement exports that substantiate claimed reach, engagement or business outcomes.
- Check independent coverage: corroborate claims with industry coverage, press placements or third-party measurement where available.
- Interview stakeholders: speak with campaign sponsors and third-party vendors to confirm the claim’s context, scope and long-term outcomes.
- Assess governance: for AI and data-driven entries, require documentation of model governance, data sources and monitoring plans.
Strengths of the Zenith Awards program
- Breadth and relevance: The awards reflect modern comms’ scope, from intranets to AI and crisis response. The wide category set allows diverse types of work to be recognized on their merits.
- Industry-scale platform: Being presented during Communications Week gives winners access to a concentrated audience of practitioners, vendors and journalists. The awards are positioned to multiply winners’ visibility more effectively than smaller, niche programs.
- Jury composition and judging criteria: Ragan published the inaugural jury and emphasized criteria that favor strategy and measurable impact — stronger guardrails than purely popularity-based awards.
Potential risks and limits
- Badge versus evidence: Awards are curated recognitions—not substitutes for audited results. The program’s marketing benefits are real, but organizations should still ask for the underlying evidence used in judging.
- Sponsorship perception: Many awards programs involve commercial sponsors; even with transparent judging, perception of sponsor influence can create skepticism. Organizers must preserve trust through detailed disclosure of judging processes.
- Timing and verification gaps: Industry calendars create tight PR cycles. Announcements sometimes appear before canonical pages or third-party confirmations are posted, so readers who rely on headlines should verify with the award organizer’s official lists or the nominees’ own materials. The Zenith winners list and Ragan’s winners pages are authoritative, but independent follow-up is still prudent.
How to use a Zenith Award win strategically (for winners)
- Leverage the editorial and social reach offered by Ragan and PR Daily, but pair that with:
- A long-form case study that includes measurable KPIs and reproducible tactics.
- A press kit with downloadable assets and an auditable measurement appendix.
- A follow-up campaign that converts recognition into pipeline, recruitment and stakeholder investment.
- For AI and technical projects, publish sanitized governance artifacts: model cards, monitoring summaries, and redacted consumption or performance logs that vendors and buyers can review.
- Use the award as an opening for broader thought leadership: present at Ragan events, host webinars with judges or collaborators, and create customer-facing content to explain the outcome and lessons learned.
What the winners list tells WindowsForum readers
Communications work matters to technology organizations in two concrete ways:- Product and platform narratives drive business outcomes. Campaigns that align product value with human stories — whether in consumer brands or enterprise narratives — can move markets and influence buying decisions. The Zenith winners show how storytelling plus precise targeting yields measurable returns.
- Operational comms and crisis preparedness are core IT risks. Public-sector wins and corporate crisis responses underline the need for robust internal channels, clear incident playbooks and rapid public messaging — areas where IT and communications must coordinate tightly. For Windows and enterprise administrators, this means ensuring identity, access and logging for comms tools are integrated into incident response plans.
Practical guidance for verifying award claims (step-by-step)
- Obtain the original award entry and judge feedback. If an organization refuses, treat the award as promotional rather than evidence.
- Ask for measurement exports: impressions, reach, conversion events and last-click or multi-touch attribution models used. Verify the raw numbers with analytics dashboards if possible.
- For AI projects, request documentation on model sources, training data governance, validation tests and monitoring frameworks. Ensure privacy and compliance clauses were considered.
- Cross-check independent media coverage (trade press, local outlets, industry awards) to verify claimed reach or community impact. For example, BODYARMOR’s March Madness campaign has been covered by Adweek and industry awards, corroborating its high visibility.
- Confirm governance — was the campaign audited internally or externally? Did a neutral third party verify key claims (e.g., audience reach or fundraising totals)? If not, label claims appropriately.
Critical perspective: awards as part of reputational capital
Awards like the Zeniths are reputational currency. They help professionals benchmark their careers, agencies attract clients and organizations validate investments in comms. Yet their greatest value emerges when they’re paired with transparency. The Zenith Awards’ inaugural run demonstrates promise: the program is well-scoped, backed by a recognized industry organizer, and populated with entries that reflect the profession’s evolving priorities. At the same time, the typical caveats apply: badge visibility must be converted into audited evidence for procurement and journalistic verification.The winners list — as published by PR Daily and amplified on Ragan’s winners pages — gives readers a comprehensive map of the projects that earned the judges’ favor this year. These materials are useful both as inspiration and as starting points for due diligence.
Conclusion
The Zenith Awards’ inaugural roster captures a snapshot of modern communications: integrated campaigns that blend creative storytelling, data-driven measurement and operational readiness. From BODYARMOR’s high-profile March Madness activation to public-sector crisis teams and AI pilots by global consultancies, the winners reflect a profession that is creative, accountable and increasingly strategic. The awards give deserved recognition — and they also present an opportunity for winners, judges and the organizer to double down on the transparency and evidence that make award-based recognition genuinely useful to buyers, journalists and peers.For professionals in IT and communications, the Zenith winners list is best treated as a curated menu: use it to discover cases worth studying, then subject the most compelling entries to the verification checklist outlined above. That approach turns recognition into durable learning and ensures that award-winning work can be reliably replicated, scaled and trusted. <!-- Note: Full winners list and case profiles are available on PR Daily’s coverage and Ragan’s Zenith winners pages. The article above synthesizes those published materials and adds industry context and verification guidance. -->
Source: PR Daily Full list of winners: The inaugural Zenith Awards - PR Daily
